What do you get when you pack a plastic water bottle with shopping bags, food wrappers and other soft plastics? The answer: an Ecobrick.

Ecobricks are reusable plastic building blocks made of clean and dry used single-use plastics. They take advantage of the fact that plastic is extremely durable to create a useful building material. Developing countries are using Ecobricks to make affordable modular furniture, garden structures and buildings.

Why Ecobricks?

Single use plastic is a growing problem worldwide and markets for low-grade and soft plastic are virtually non-existent because they are not of a high enough quality to reuse in the manufacturing of new materials. Ecobricks represent a low-cost recycling alternative.

In Greyton, South Africa, many eco projects are underway, all with a focus on balancing community development with sustainable waste management practices. Ecobricks are being used to create community gardens, outdoor classrooms and even a composting toilet. A new eco-village settlement is also being designed with the added benefit of creating new jobs for the community.

Similarly, in Medellín, Colombia, a new patent utilising Ecobricks aims to provide affordable housing to vulnerable communities while in Mexico, Ecobricks are being used to provide temporary housing for earthquake victims.

Closer to home, the Ecobricks concept is an excellent opportunity for students to put sustainability into practice in their everyday lives. Teachers can use Ecobricks to teach students about how plastic is a threat to the environment, and that all waste has the potential to be reused as a resource.

Making an Ecobrick

What you’ll need

• Used soft plastic – plastic bags, food packaging, straws, cellophane
• Plastic bottle – at least 500ml
• Long stick – to press the plastics down

How to make it

1. Prepare your ingredients
   Choose same-sized bottles if you’re making more than one Ecobrick. Make sure the bottle and soft plastics are dry. Cut large plastic into smaller pieces for easier stuffing.
2. Start with the bottom
   Stuff same coloured plastic first as your bottom layer, then build each layer as you go.
3. Mix it up as you stuff
   Alternate between soft and harder plastic pieces. This maximises density and improves the strength of your Ecobrick. Use a long stick to compress layers of plastic until the bottle is full.
4. It’s that simple!
   Once the Ecobrick is packed tightly and to the brim, store it in a dry and dim area away from sunlight for later use or donate to organisations that support the initiative.

Contact us for more information about how we make a sustainable future possible through soft plastic recycling and our education programs all over Australia.

We’re waging a #waroncontamination to get Australia’s kerbside recycling to a higher quality to ensure it can be recovered as a valuable commodity. Our How rubbish are you at recycling quiz ran across all our social media channels to gain insight on how Australians are recycling wrong.

Here’s what we discovered:

• Strong interest in recycling education. Almost 1,500 social media followers viewed our quiz and 800 took the time to complete all 10 questions. Our Facebook post was well engaged with many conversations, comments and shares.
• Eco-champs are recycling right. 84% of quiz-takers got more than 8 questions correct and 38% scored a perfect 10/10.
• Basics of contamination are understood. Questions around the common items of contamination like bagged recycling, food scraps and used nappies received the most correct answers but quiz-takers stumbled on the more complex questions around the different types of materials and how to treat them for recycling.

Where’s the confusion around recycling?

Are all plastic bags considered contamination, even biodegradable ones?

The jury is out on whether biodegradable plastic bags are a preferable alternative to regular plastics bags as evidence is inconclusive about how long they take to break down.

What we do know is, all types of plastic bags, whether biodegradable or not, are considered contamination as they can get tangled in sorting machinery at Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) causing inaccuracies with the sorting technology and delays when parts need to be cleaned, repaired or replaced.

From 1 July 2018, Western Australia will ban all lightweight plastic shopping bags in line with South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and Australian Capital Territory. Queensland and Victoria have also announced the intention to introduce a ban.

If a plastic item can be scrunched into a ball, is it accepted in the kerbside bin?

How can you tell the difference between rigid and soft plastic? The scrunch test, as it is commonly known, is a good way to see if a plastic item belongs in the kerbside recycling bin.

If a plastic item can be scrunched into a ball with your hand, it’s likely to be soft plastic and should not be recycled in the kerbside bin. Rigid plastics, like PET, do not scrunch easily in your hand and are more likely to crack instead of being shaped into a ball. These rigid plastics can be recycled in the kerbside bin.

Can broken crockery be recycled together with glass?

Broken crockery and tempered cookware glass like Pyrex cannot be sorted through the MRF and should be kept out of the kerbside recycling bin. Crockery made from chinaware are also not accepted in the kerbside bin and should go in general waste instead.

Empty and unbroken glass bottles and containers are acceptable material for the kerbside bin. It’s true that glass can break during collection, but the pieces are likely to be large, making it easy to sort at MRFs.

Does a garden hose belong in the recycling bin?

Garden hoses, Christmas lights, cables, and similar wire types are not recyclable through the kerbside bin. All types of extended wires, cables, and coat hangers should not enter the MRF regardless of the material. Because of how the machine is designed, cables and wires risk getting tangled up between gears and other moving parts which can clog the machine and cause damage.

Does it matter how aluminium foil is collected for recycling?

Small pieces of aluminium foil such as Easter egg wrappers are very light, and too small to sort and recycle on their own. By collecting smaller pieces into a ball at least the size of a ping pong or golf ball, machines are able to effectively sort the aluminium foil from other recyclables.

The way forward

While most people are Eco-champs when it comes to the basics of recycling, contamination continues to be a big risk to our kerbside recycling system. Increasing education, and encouraging others to do the right thing, can go a long way to ensuring our recycling doesn’t go to waste.

According to Planet Ark, almost half of all Australians are confused about what can and cannot be recycled because of:

• Improvements in technology over the years resulting in an evolving list of what is and isn’t recyclable
• Different kerbside recycling practices across councils
• Different recycling practices at home, work, and in public spaces
• Lack of understanding over the types of materials that products are made of

The good news is that councils and organisations such as the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) are working towards improving public education and encouraging uniform resource recovery policies at a national level.

Cleanaway passionately believes in standardising kerbside bin inclusions and we advocate for a systematic waste management approach nationwide to help overcome confusion at the bin and to make kerbside recycling simpler for residents.

Download our General Waste and Commingled bin stickers, for use in the office, apartments, or any location where there is confusion around the recycling bin.

Contact us today to find out more about how you can help keep contamination out of kerbside recycling.

Kerbside recycling has been part of Australian recycling practice since the late 80’s and early 90’s, with most homes having access to a collection service for commingled recyclables.

The mix of paper, plastic, steel, aluminium and glass from the yellow-lid bin is separated into more specific streams at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) (watch this video to see how it’s done).

This is called single-stream recycling.

Single-stream vs sorting at the source

Single-stream collection is popular for increasing recycling rates because it’s more convenient for householders, but the range of items accepted can lead to confusion, and contamination is a big problem for kerbside recycling.

Plastic bags, bagged recyclables, liquids and textiles are all major risks to recycling as they reduce the quality of the load, making materials unsuitable for resale to secondary markets, and the processing of recyclables more difficult.

Source separation involves separating waste into common material streams or categories for separate collection. Sorting at the source involves having more bins available at the home, office or site, so that consumers can put the correct item in the bin.

Goods and materials commonly targeted for source separation include:

• construction and demolition waste (such as concrete, bricks and timber)
• organic matter (such as food waste and garden waste)
• reusable items (such as clothes and accessories, household items and appliances)
• packaging and paper (such as cardboard, glass, plastics and aluminium cans)
• hazardous wastes (such as paint, batteries, chemicals and biomedical items)

(Source: Waste Authority: Source Separation of Waste Position Statement)

Source separation in action

Container deposit schemes in New South Wales and South Australia are a great example of sorting at the source, where eligible beverage containers made of plastics, glass, aluminium, steel and liquid paperboard can be returned to collection centres for a refund.

Businesses that produce commercial, industrial and construction waste are well-positioned to sort at the source and maximise the amount of material that can be recycled.

Cleanaway’s packaging waste recycling service allows businesses to separate cardboard, paper, plastic and polystyrene into a single bin, keeping it in optimal condition for sorting and recycling at the MRF.

Similarly, automotive workshops can recycle their oily rags, oil filters and coolants, when they get their waste oil and liquid waste collected.

Material production and consumption is not slowing down so we will all need to play a greater role in maximising the resources that can be recovered, and reducing waste sent to landfill. Sorting at the source is the best way to ensure your waste can be recovered.

Contact us today to find out how you can improve your recycling rates with a collection service.

Put your sustainability efforts to waste while you’re enjoying the outdoors this summer:

Gear that will go the difference

Every year thousands of tents, mattresses, eskies and other camping equipment end up in landfill because one-time campers abandon their kit when they’re done. Festivals and camping are some of the great joys of the Australian summer but remember it’s your responsibility to leave no waste behind. Buy to last, borrow or hire your equipment to ensure it doesn’t end up littered across our beautiful parks and beaches.

Set up recycling and waste stations

Make recycling easy for guests and fellow campers by setting up recycling stations around your campsite or picnic area. When everything’s over, simply transfer the waste and recycling into the correct bin.

Say no to plastic

Put reusable utensils on the shopping list and say goodbye to single-use flimsy plastics. Hard plastic plates such as those found in the Clean Up Australia picnic set are reusable and practical while being extremely lightweight.

And don’t stop at switching out your paper and plastic cups – ditch those plastic bottles too. Invest in a drink bottle that you won’t want to live without, like insulated aluminium, filtered or even a refreezable ice compartment to keep your drink cold all day.

Reduce #pointlessplastic at all costs

If you’re preparing food for your event, shop at the market and focus on food that is in season. Fruits and vegetables already come in nature’s wrapping and you can bring your own bags to reduce the plastic factor even further.

Suggest that guests bring their own reusable food containers or green bags to prevent waste – and so they can take home some of the delicious leftovers!

Join us and Clean Up Australia today to make a sustainable future possible.